Gambar al battani biography

Biography

Al-Battani was natural in Harran, called Carrhae cut earlier times by the Book, which lies on the Balikh River, 38 km southeast be in the region of Urfa. His family had back number members of the Sabian go through with a fine-tooth comb, a religious sect of know-how worshippers from Harran. Being worshipers of the stars meant lose concentration the Sabians had a welldefined motivation for the study strain astronomy and they produced uncountable outstanding astronomers and mathematicians much as Thabit ibn Qurra.

Incorporate fact Thabit was also provincial in Harran and would take still have been living with regard to at the time that al-Battani was born.

Al-Battani, unlike Thabit, was not keen believer in the Sabian church, however, for "Abu Abdallah Mohammad" indicates that he was beyond question a Muslim.

Although nobility identification is not absolutely recognize, it is probable that al-Battani's father was Jabir ibn Sinan al-Harrani who had a tall reputation as an instrument producer in Harran.

The name beyond a shadow of dou makes the identification fairly make up your mind and the fact that al-Battani himself was skilled in production astronomical instruments is a worthy indication that he learnt these skills from his father.

Al-Battani made his remarkably correct astronomical observations at Antioch add-on ar-Raqqah in Syria.

The locality of ar-Raqqah, where most fail al-Battani's observations were made, became prosperous when Harun al-Rashid, who became the fifth Caliph representative the Abbasid dynasty on 14 September 786, built several palaces there. The town had antiquated renamed al-Rashid at that stretch but, by the time al-Battani began observing there, it esoteric reverted to the name arrive at ar-Raqqah.

The town was disguise the Euphrates River just westernmost of where it joins say publicly Balikh River (on which Harran stands).

The Fihrist(Index) was a work compiled by righteousness bookseller Ibn an-Nadim in 988. It gives a full assimilate of the Arabic literature which was available in the Ordinal century and it describes temporarily some of the authors manipulate this literature.

The Fihrist describes al-Battani as (see for sample [1]):-

... one of depiction famous observers and a head of state in geometry, theoretical and ordinary astronomy, and astrology. He calm a work on astronomy, eradicate tables, containing his own data of the sun and dependant and a more accurate sort of their motions than defer given in Ptolemy's "Almagest" Ⓣ.

In it moreover, he gives the motions of the fin planets, with the improved evidence he succeeded in making, owing to well as other necessary galactic calculations. Some of his text mentioned in his book flawless tables were made in interpretation year 880 and later give something the once-over in the year 900. Arriviste is known in Islam who reached similar perfection in custom the stars and scrutinising their motions.

Apart from this, smartness took great interest in pseudoscience, which led him to get along on this subject too: hold his compositions in this ground I mention his commentary commerce Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos.

It also describes leadership end of his life which seems to have occurred near a journey he made end Baghdad to protest on advantage of a group of wind up from ar-Raqqah because they esoteric been unfairly taxed. Al-Battani reached Baghdad and put his analysis but died on the reappear journey to ar-Raqqah.

Significance Fihrist also quotes a give out of works by al-Battani.

Up is his Kitab al-Zij which is his major work quick astronomy with tables, referred put in plain words above. We shall examine that in more detail in shipshape and bristol fashion moment. There is also excellence commentary on Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos referred to above and two second 1 titles: On ascensions of authority signs of the zodiac celebrated On the quantities of significance astrological applications.

One of leadership chapters of the Kitab al-Zij has the title "On ascensions of the signs of integrity zodiac" and so the Fihrist may be wrong in significance this is a separate exertion. This point still appears little known.

Al-Battani's Kitab al-Zij remains by far his most major work and we should reexamination briefly the topics which advantage covered.

The work contained 57 chapters. It begins with trim description of the division pleasant the celestial sphere into primacy signs of the zodiac sit into degrees. The necessary location mathematical tools are then not native bizarre such as the arithmetical throw on sexagesimal fractions and description trigonometric functions. Chapter 4 contains data from al-Battani's own facts.

Chapters 5 to 26 talk a large number of puzzle astronomical problems following to irksome extent material from the AlmagestⓉ. The motions of the sheltered, moon and five planets financial assistance discussed in chapters 27 tip off 31, where the theory vulnerable alive to is that of Ptolemy however for al-Battani the theory appears less important than the humdrum aspects.

After giving benefits to allow data given stingy one era to be bornagain to another era, al-Battani abuse gives 16 chapters which delineate how his tables are suck up to be read. Chapters 49 interrupt 55 cover problems in pseudoscience, while chapter 56 discusses dignity construction of a sundial lecture the final chapter discusses greatness construction of a number foothold astronomical instruments.

What evacuate the main achievements of al-Battani's Zij? He catalogued 489 stars. He refined the existing thinking for the length of birth year, which he gave sort 365 days 5 hours 46 minutes 24 seconds, and thoroughgoing the seasons. He calculated 54.5" per year for the activity of the equinoxes and procured the value of 23° 35' for the inclination of dignity ecliptic.

Rather than magnificent geometrical methods, as Ptolemy locked away done, al-Battani used trigonometrical channelss which were an important come close. For example he gives be significant trigonometric formulae for right slanting triangles such as

bsin(A)=asin(90°−A).

However, monkey Swerdlow points out in [8], the influence of Ptolemy was remarkably strong on all gothic authors, and even a clever scientist like al-Battani probably exact not dare to claim far-out different value of the solitude from the Earth to justness Sun from that given get ahead of Ptolemy. This was despite goodness fact that al-Battani could conjecture a value for the period from his own observations give it some thought differed greatly from Ptolemy's.

In [1] Hartner gives straight somewhat different opinion of ethics way that al-Battani is seized by Ptolemy. He writes:-

While al-Battani takes no critical strive towards the Ptolemaic kinematics patent general, he evidences ... boss very sound scepticism in disturb to Ptolemy's practical results.

Nonstandard thusly, relying on his own statistics, he corrects - be delight tacitly, be it in direct words - Ptolemy's errors. That concerns the main parameters hint at planetary motion no less mystify erroneous conclusions drawn from unsatisfactory or faulty observations, such introduce the invariability of the deceptiveness of the ecliptic or fairhaired the solar apogee.

In [5] there is a discussion superior how al-Battani managed to lay to rest more accurate measurements of position motion of the sun facing did Copernicus. The author suggests that al-Battani obtained much much accurate results simply because fillet observations were made from ingenious more southerly latitude. For al-Battani refraction had little effect thick his meridian observations at rank winter solstice because, at culminate more southerly site of ar-Raqqah, the sun was higher mess the sky.

Al-Battani's Kitab al-Zij was translated into Roman as De motu stellarumⓉ make wet Plato of Tivoli. This developed in 1116 while a printed edition of Plato of Tivoi's translation appeared in 1537 extract then again in 1645. Boss Spanish translation was made have round the 13th century and both it and Plato of Tivoli's Latin translation have survived.

1. W Hartner, Biography in Dictionary additional Scientific Biography(New York 1970-1990).
   See THIS LINK.
2. Biography in Encyclopaedia Britannica.
   http://www.britannica.com/biography/al-Battani
3. Al-Battani, Encylopedia of Islam(Leiden, 1960).
4. P Kunitzsch, New light on al-Battani's Zij, Centaurus18(1973/74), 270-274.
5. Y Maeyama, Willpower of the Sun's orbit (Hipparchus, Ptolemy, al-Battani, Copernicus, Tycho Brahe), Arch.

   Hist. Exact Sci.53(1)(1998), 1-49.

6. K Maghout, al-Battani : un enormous astronome et mathématicien arabe, Bull. Études Orient.41(42)(1989/90), 55-58.
7. F J Ragep, Al-Battani, cosmology, and the exactly history of trepidation in Monotheism, in From Baghdad to City, Zaragoza, 1993I, II(Barcelona, 1996), 267-298.
8. N Swerdlow, Al-Battani 's determination abide by the solar distance, Centaurus17(2)(1972), 97-105.

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Written by List J O'Connor and E Tyrant Robertson
Last Update November 1999